With no recent violations, the Board agreed to reinstate the permit at its meeting this week.

Ceci Velasco, Executive Director of the Ocean Drive Association, told the Board the Association has had ongoing meetings with the restaurant’s owner and managers. “They sat down and restructured themselves from top to bottom and asked for a lot of advice and counseling,” she noted. She added Il Giardino has joined the Ocean Drive Association and has agreed to abide by a code of conduct. “We’re hoping and praying that this all goes well but everything we do know is that they have put together the tools to make this happen,” she said.

Board Chair Brian Elias told Velasco, “As you know, we only have so much power here but the Commission, the Mayor, everyone is trying to clean up Ocean Drive. It was the jewel of our city and it’s really deteriorated and it’s bad ownership. Obviously we can’t control everybody that comes to Ocean Drive but we can control to the best of our ability how the owners conduct their business and that’s really just what we’re trying to do. We want every owner to be in compliance.”

Velasco replied, “From where I stand right now, it’s very promising.” While formal membership is new, she said it includes a code of conduct for every restauranteur, retailer, and hotelier to abide by. If a business violates the code of conduct, Velasco said the Ocean Drive Association will report to the City that they are not in good standing.

The Planning Board voted to reinstate the outdoor entertainment permit and have a status report in 90 days.